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126 results for “seed predation.”
Data from: Phenotypic selection exerted by a seed predator is replicated in space and time and among prey species
Although consistent phenotypic selection arising from biotic interactions is thought to be the primary cause of adaptive diversification, studies documenting such selection are relatively few. Here we analyze 12 episodes of phenotypic selection exerted by a predispersal seed predator, the red crossbill (Loxia curvirostra complex), on five species of pines (Pinus). We find that even though the intensity of selection for some traits increased with the strength of the interaction (i.e., proportion of seeds eaten), the relative strength of selection exerted by crossbills on cone and seed traits is replicated across space, time, and among species. Such selection (1) can account for repeated patterns of conifer cone evolution, and escalation in seed defenses with time, and (2) suggests that variation in selection is less the result of variation intrinsic to pairwise biotic interactions than, for example, variation in relative densities of the interacting species, community context, and abiotic factors.
Assessing the potential for indirect interactions between tropical tree species via shared insect seed predators
Natural enemies of plants have the potential to influence the dynamics of plant populations and the structure of plant communities. In diverse tropical forests research on the effects of plant enemies has largely focused on the diversity-enhancing effects of highly specialised enemies, while the community-level effects of enemies with broader diets have rarely been considered. We investigated the community of insect seed predators interacting with seven tree species in the family Lauraceae on Barro Colorado Island (Panama). We present one of the first quantitative food webs for pre-dispersal insect seed predators and their host plants, and use the information in the web to assess the potential for indirect interactions between the tree species. Our data suggest that there is high potential for indirect interactions between Lauraceae species via their shared seed predators. The strength and direction of these interactions is largely unrelated to the phylogenetic distance and trait similarity between species but are likely governed by the volume of fruit produced by each tree species.
Data from: Breaking and remaking a seed and seed predator interaction in the introduced range of Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) in New Zealand
Introduced plants may initially experience enemy release but some of those interactions may be reinstated through biological control. These cases provide opportunities to explore the dynamics of broken and re-made consumer-resource interactions. The European shrub broom (Cytisus scoparius) was introduced to New Zealand without a specialist seed predator (Bruchidius villosus) until a biological control programme reinstated this interaction in 1988. Broom produces substantially larger seeds throughout its non-native range and there are differences in seedling establishment beneath broom canopies between the native and introduced ranges. We hypothesised that large broom seeds produce seedlings with a survival advantage in shaded conditions, consistent with establishment under broom canopies in the introduced range. We also predicted that the seed-feeding beetle would experience increased fitness in larger seeds. We found that seedling survival was correlated with seed weight in shaded conditions, consistent with the observed establishment of seedlings beneath broom stands in the non-native range. Beetle size was positively correlated with seed weight and female fecundity increased with body size. Comparison of the size distributions of beetle populations before and after hibernation provided indirect evidence that overwintering survival of beetles is also size-dependent. These findings are consistent with observed higher levels of abundance of B. villosus in New Zealand, compared to native habitats. Selection gradients for seed size-dependent seedling survival on broom occupancy were explored using the Rees-Paynter population model, demonstrating that a fitness benefit to the plant of large seed size through enhanced seedling survival beneath the parental canopy is only likely under low disturbance scenarios and moderate fecundity levels. Synthesis. The dynamics of biocontrol systems provide an under-exploited opportunity to examine the impact of removal and reinstatement of species interactions. Differences in seed size between native and non-native ranges may result from varying intensities of conflicting selection pressures acting on seed size. It remains to be seen whether a decline in seed size towards that seen in the native range will result from the biocontrol agent introduction, as we have demonstrated that selection pressures on seed size vary with disturbance mediated population turnover and fecundity.
Data from: Cascading effects of defaunation on the coexistence of two specialized insect seed predators
Identification of the mechanisms enabling stable coexistence of species with similar resource requirements is a central challenge in ecology. Such coexistence can be facilitated by species at higher trophic levels through complex multi-trophic interactions, a mechanism that could be compromised by ongoing defaunation. We investigated cascading effects of defaunation on Pachymerus cardo and Speciomerus giganteus, the specialized insect seed predators of the Neotropical palm Attalea butyracea, testing the hypothesis that vertebrate frugivores and granivores facilitate their coexistence. Laboratory experiments showed that the two seed parasitoid species differed strongly in their reproductive ecology. Pachymerus produced many small eggs that it deposited exclusively on the fruit exocarp (exterior). Speciomerus produced few large eggs that it deposited exclusively on the endocarp, which is normally exposed only after a vertebrate handles the fruit. When eggs of the two species were deposited on the same fruit, Pachymerus triumphed only when it had a long head start, and the loser always succumbed to intraguild predation. We collected field data on the fates of 6569 Attalea seeds across sites in central Panama with contrasting degrees of defaunation and wide variation in the abundance of vertebrate frugivores and granivores. Speciomerus dominated where vertebrate communities were intact, whereas Pachymerus dominated in defaunated sites. Variation in the relative abundance of Speciomerus across all 84 sampling sites was strongly positively related to the proportion of seeds attacked by rodents, an indicator of local vertebrate abundance. Synthesis. We show that two species of insect seed predators relying on the same host plant species are niche differentiated in their reproductive strategies such that one species has the advantage when fruits are handled promptly by vertebrates and the other when they are not. Defaunation disrupts this mediating influence of vertebrates and strongly favours one species at the expense of the other, providing a case study of the cascading effects of defaunation and its potential to disrupt coexistence of non-target species, including the hyperdiverse phytophagous insects of tropical forests.
Fig. 3 in The Extent of Seed Predation by Bruchine Beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) in a Heterogeneous Landscape in Southeastern Brazil
Fig. 3. Cumulative percentage of germinated seeds (means ± SE) over an 11-day period for attacked and unattacked Leucaena leucocephala seeds. Germination was not recorded on days 2 and 5.
Fig. 1 in The Extent of Seed Predation by Bruchine Beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) in a Heterogeneous Landscape in Southeastern Brazil
Fig. 1. Monthly emergence of all bruchine species throughout the year of the study. Gibbobruchus spp., Acanthoscelides sp., Ctenocolum podagricus, and Acanthoscelides macrophthalmus emerged from seeds of Bauhinia forficata, Senna hirsuta, Lonchocarpus muehlbergianus, and Leucaena leucocephala, respectively. "Left" and "Right" in brackets mean that the emergence of each bruchine is recorded on the left or on the right y-axis.
Fig. 1 in Species ofXystusSchönherr (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Baridinae) are Seed Predators of Wild Yams (Dioscoreaceae) in Central Mexico
Fig. 1. Xystus gracilirostris on fruit capsule of Dioscorea sparsiflora. Oviposition puncture of weevil is present in lower right on fruit capsule.
Figure 1 in Seed predation of Araucaria angustifolia (Araucariaceae) by small rodents in two areas with contrasting seed densities in the Brazilian Araucaria forest
Figure 1. Survivorship curves for mean number of seeds placed at two areas (27 experimental stations per area) and monitored for 30 days in two periods. These periods corresponded to the time of Araucaria angustifolia seed production (indicated by filled symbols and solid lines) and outside this period (open symbols and broken lines). The area with high density of seeds during time of seed production (planted stand of A. angustifolia) is indicated by circles and the area with low density of seeds throughout the year (planted stand of P. elliottii) is indicated by triangles. Error bars indicate standard errors of the means. Significant differences (p <0.05, log-rank survival tests with sequential Bonferroni correction) are shown by different letters. Statistical comparisons were made only between areas for each season and between seasons for each area.
Data from: Seed predator effects on plants: moving beyond time-corrected proxies
<p><span>Small mammals impact plant recruitment globally via size-dependent seed predation, generating a unimodal pattern across ecosystems. Chen et al. (2021) critiqued our seed removal analysis, advocating corrections for exposure time. We show in our rebuttal that such manipulations are unwarranted and argue for increased emphasis on plant recruitment metrics. This archive holds the updated seed removal dataset used for our rebuttal.</span></p>
Data from: Seed masting causes fluctuations in optimum litter size and lag load in a seed predator
The episodic production of large seed crops by some perennial plants (masting) is known to increase seed escape by alternately starving and swamping seed predators. These pulses of resources might also act as an agent of selection on the life histories of seed predators, which could indirectly enhance seed escape by inducing an evolutionary load on seed predator populations. We measured natural selection on litter size of female North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) across 28 years and five white spruce (Picea glauca) masting events. Observed litter sizes were similar to optimum litter sizes during non-mast years but were well below optimum litter sizes during mast years. Mast events, therefore, caused selection for larger litters (' = 0.25) and a lag load (L = 0.25) on red squirrels during mast years. Reduced juvenile recruitment associated with this lag load increased the number of spruce cones escaping squirrel predation. Although, offspring and parents often experienced opposite environments with respect to the mast, we found no effect of environmental mismatches across generations on either offspring survival or population growth. Instead, squirrels plastically increased litter sizes in anticipation of mast events, which partially, although not completely, reduced the lag load resulting from this change in food availability. These results, therefore, suggest that in addition to ecological and behavioural effects on seed predators, mast seed production can further enhance seed escape by inducing maladaptation in seed predators through fluctuations in optimal trait values.
Data from: Boom and bust: The effects of masting on seed predator range dynamics and trophic cascades
<p><strong>Aim: </strong>Spatiotemporal variation in resource availability is a strong driver of animal distributions. In northern hardwood and boreal forests of the northeastern United States, tree mast events provide resource pulses that drive the population dynamics of small mammals, including the American red squirrel (<em>Tamiasciurus hudsonicus</em>), a primary songbird nest predator. This study sought to determine whether mast availability ameliorates their abiotic limits, enabling red squirrel elevational distributions to temporarily expand and negatively impact high elevation songbirds.</p> <p><strong>Location: </strong>Northeastern United States</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> We used two independent datasets to evaluate our hypotheses. First, we fit a dynamic occupancy model using data from camera trap surveys to evaluate red squirrel distributional responses to pulses in tree mast. We also assessed population responses using systematic auditory surveys analyzed with an open-population binomial mixture model. Further, we used modeled red squirrel abundance in nest-survival models to evaluate whether their abundance is correlated with daily nest survival of three songbird species.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> Tree mast provided a critical resource pulse that resulted in a two-fold increase in the annual elevational distribution of red squirrels. The elevational distribution of red squirrels ranged from a minimum of ~450 m (range: 663 – 1145 m asl) following two consecutive years without a masting event to a maximum of over 1000 m (range: 443 – 1545 m asl) after a large mast event. Daily nest survival of three songbird species tended to decline with an increase in the abundance of red squirrels.</p> <p><strong>Main Conclusions:</strong> Tree mast is a central biological phenomenon in many temperate and boreal forests. This study reveals how this resource pulse results in range changes in a small mammal that is both a seed and bird predator, as well as prey for many carnivores. Thus, understanding this phenomenon can inform the conservation and management of northern forests, including breeding songbirds.</p>
Data from: Harnessing ant defence at fruits reduces bruchid seed predation in a symbiotic ant-plant mutualism
In horizontally transmitted mutualisms, mutualists disperse separately and reassemble in each generation with partners genetically unrelated to those in the previous generation. Because of this, there should be no selection on either partner to enhance the other's reproductive output directly. In symbiotic ant–plant mutualisms, myrmecophytic plants host defensive ant colonies, and ants defend the plants from herbivores. Plants and ants disperse separately, and, although ant defence can indirectly increase plant reproduction by reducing folivory, it is unclear whether ants can also directly increase plant reproduction by defending seeds. The neotropical tree Cordia alliodora hosts colonies of Azteca pittieri ants. The trees produce domatia where ants nest at stem nodes and also at the node between the peduncle and the rachides of the infloresence. Unlike the stem domatia, these reproductive domatia senesce after the tree fruits each year. In this study, I show that the tree's resident ant colony moves into these ephemeral reproductive domatia, where they tend honeydew-producing scale insects and patrol the nearby developing fruits. The presence of ants significantly reduced pre-dispersal seed predation by Amblycerus bruchid beetles, thereby directly increasing plant reproductive output.
Data from: Metapopulation structure of a seed-predator weevil and its host plants in arms race coevolution
Although the importance of gene flow in the geographic structuring of host–parasite interactions has been well discussed, little is known about how dispersal drives the spatial dynamics of other types of coevolutionary interactions in nature. We evaluated the roles of gene flow in the geographically structured processes of a predator–prey arms race involving a seed-predatory weevil with a long mouthpart and its host camellia plant with a thick fruit coat. Molecular genetic analyses showed that both weevil and camellia populations were structured at a spatial scale of several kilometers. Importantly, the spatial pattern of the migration of weevils, but not that of camellias, imposed significant effects on the geographic configuration of the levels of coevolutionary escalation. This result suggests that even if migration is limited in one species (camellia), local coevolution with the other species that migrates between neighboring localities (weevil) can reduce the inter-population difference in the local adaptive optima of the former species. Thus, gene flow of a species potentially homogenizes local biological environments provided by the species and thereby promotes the evolutionary convergence of its coevolving counterparts. Consequently, by focusing on coevolutionary interactions in natural communities, "indirect" effects of gene flow on the adaptive divergence of organisms could be identified.
Figure 2 in An annotated checklist of the herbivores and seed predators of Mimulus guttatus
Figure 2. Herbivore richness in surveys and literature records of animals feeding on Mimulus guttatus. (a). Species richness for different regions of M. guttatus range WNA = western North America, UK = United Kingdom, ENA = eastern North America. (b). Species richness between different major groups. (c). Insect species richness of insect orders. (d). Insect species richness for insect families.
Figure 1 in An annotated checklist of the herbivores and seed predators of Mimulus guttatus
Figure 1. Field damage and herbivores on Mimulus guttatus. (a). Leaf mining damage (Chromatomyia sp.) from an Alaskan plant. (b). Aphids attack a plant in California USA. (c). Philaenus spumarius feeding along with signs of caterpillar damage on a plant from New Brunswick Canada. (d). Deer feeding damage from plant in Michigan USA. (e). Sawfly larvae feeding on a flower in Scotland United Kingdom. (f). A very photogenic horse feeding on whole plants in England United Kingdom.
Seed predation by amazon fish
<p><span>Our experiment revealed unexpected behavioral strategies involved in seed predation of <em>Mabea fistulifera</em> by fish (<em>Brycon cephalus</em>), including temporal storage of seeds in the stomach followed by regurgitation and reingestion of individual seeds. Larger fish were faster at removing the seed coat and exposing the endosperm, due to precise oral manipulation of seeds.</span></p>
Data from: Drought, post-dispersal seed predation and the establishment of epiphytic bromeliads (Tillandsia spp.)
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Data from: Seed predation increases from the Arctic to the Equator and from high to low elevations
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Data from: Changes in seed predation along a 2300-m elevational gradient on a tropical mountain in Myanmar: a standardized test with 32 non-native plant species
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Data from: Genetic factors affecting food-plant specialization of an oligophagous seed predator
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Allen Brain Atlas
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OpenNeuro
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